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July 17th 2006
WSOP Update: William Chen takes down 2nd WSOP bracelet of 2006
After the excitement of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event had died down we remembered that there were still WSOP events being played, and still bracelets (not to mention millions of dollars) to be won.
First up was Event #21, the $2500 NL Hold’em Short Handed tournament. Despite a final table of just six players (it was a shorthanded event) there were plenty of familiar faces staring out from behind the chips. They lined up as follows:
1) Mick Guttman - $587,000 – (runner-up to Lee Watkinson in $10,000 PL Omaha in this year’s WSOP). SEAT 4
2) Harry Demetriou - $378,000 – (popular European pro with over $1.5 million in tournament winnings). SEAT 3
3) Dan Hicks - $321,000 - (11th place in WSOP circuit event). SEAT 6
4) Alex Bolotin - $280,000 – (Nickname “The Diesel”). SEAT 2
5) William Chen - $175,000 – (Winner of $3000 Limit Hold’em at this year’s WSOP). SEAT 1
6) Nath Pizzolato - $102,000 – (First time at WSOP). SEAT 5
The first player out was, surprisingly, the second-stacked Harry Demetriou, who lost a pot to the only player with more chips than him, creating a massive chip leader in Mick Guttman. Demetriou called a preflop raise from Guttman and the two players saw a flop of 2h-3h-5h. With pocket jacks (with a heart) Demetriou decided to push all-in but was almost beat into the pot by Guttman who had pocket aces (with a heart). No help for Demetriou and he was heading home in sixth place.
It took over 70 hands for the next elimination, although the table was not short of excitement in that time, with every player on the table all-in at least once. Bolotin had the aggressive Nath Pizzolato on his immediate left, who had already been all-in six times in a row and nine times in total by the time before he clashed with Bolotin. With A-Q Bolotin decided he had to make a stand when Pizzolato re-raised all-in for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately for Bolotin Pizzolato’s pocket eights stood up all the way to the river, and Bolotin was out in fifth.
Just two hands later Dan Hicks was chasing Bolotin out of the door when his all-in with A-8 was called by Mick Guttman with A-J. Again the board failed to provide the necessary help, and Hicks was out in fourth.
That left three players, and at this point Mick Guttman still held a healthy chip lead with $940k to William Chen’s $460k and Pizzolato’s $445k. That, however wouldn’t last long.
With just five hands played Pizzolato took the chip lead after his ace high flush bested Guttman’s jack high flush. Then, a further five hands after that, Guttman got all his chips in the middle with AK versus William Chen’s pocket jacks. The board proved as unhelpful as ever and the unfortunate Australian was knocked out of the tournament, when just ten hands before he was chip leader!
That elimination left the remaining two players with almost identical stacks, and, with the blinds still relatively low we began to wonder: did we have another epic heads-up battle in store.
The answer, quite emphatically, was no. Heads-up lasted exactly two hands. On the first hand William Chen took over the lead after Pizzolato folded to Chen’s bet on the flop. On the second hand Chen bet preflop and was called by Pizzolato. After a flop of J-7-5 Chen bet again, and Pizzolato again quickly called. Both players checked the ten which fell on the turn and the river was a nine. Now Chen bet at the pot again, only for Pizzolato to raise him to $200,000. Immediately Chen moved all-in, and almost as quickly Pizzolato called. When the cards were turned over we saw why. Chen had K-Q for the nuts, while Pizzolato showed an 8 (for a lower straight).
That left William Chen with his second WSOP bracelet of 2006, and the first prize of $442,511. Nathan Pizzolato picked up $238,280 for second.
Submitted: 17/07/2006 13:02:18
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